Is Baiting Deer Fair Chase? Boone & Crockett Club Weighs In

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Sorry thats just too general a statement. No not all plotters do so to just kill deer. I was killing deer WAY before I started plotting. I started just because the farmer we bought from plowed over all his field's and then stopped farming. Well what didn't grow back in trees was a washboard. So bad it wreaked havoc on our mowers and my kidneys. I've spent 18 years discing dragging, de-rocking this place to flatten the mess he left. I just finished this year.
Now it just made sense to plant the areas I worked, that progressed in to planting things all the " experts" said deer wouldnt eat. I laugh , many of these things are now in commercial blends... Go figure. Most sits and kills arent near my plots. I just have fun growing things and trying new stuff..actually more than deer hunting. I also do plant JUST to help the turkey population which gets hit hard here in both winter and spring. If I never hunted deer ever again, I would still be working my land and woods.

 

Agreed. A general statement also involves saying baiting isnt fair chase.

Have a good season OND!

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Nothing good was ever going to come out of posting this thread. I hope you got the views on your social media platform you were hoping for.

 

You Too!

 

It don't matter to me, if it's legal where you live, go for it. I live and hunt in Indiana. Baiting is not legal here. But you can plant foodplots, hunt over ag fields or sit in an apple orchard. I also hunt Ohio where baiting is legal and I do it over there. Personally I just don't see the difference in baiting and planting whatever and sitting on it. Baiting is not the magic pill some think it is.

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In fairness, the B&C just issued a statement about it due to flack from the antis. Nothing wrong with discussing it. Lighten up Francis!

 

Yeah, I read it. I don't see how it will be a productive discussion, as it leads to arguements. Just my opinion.

 

This is not entirely true. While I do have a quarter acre food plot deep in my woods that I hope to kill a deer in, I also have a 3 acre plot in my front yard that is entirely there to benefit nature. Food plotting also benefits me as I enjoy doing it.

As far as cost....... I have spent up to $300/acre for planting food plots not including the cost of equipment.

To be honest, my son and I have killed more deer and turkey near a natural water hole in my woods than anywhere else. Is that fair chase?

 

Baiting is legal in Kansas, but I never do, not because I am against it, but because I know that the mature deer I am there to kill will avoid the bait.

 

The argument that plotting and baiting are the same is pretty short sided. Baiting is a temporary food source that is fully reliant on the hunter to continually replenish. A bait pile provides almost no benefit to the deer other than an easy food source. Those easy food sources also provide an opportunity for deer to concentrate in a very small area which runs the risk of disease transmission. In some areas of the county, far northern areas for example, a corn pile can actually be harmful to the herd as they become reliant on the easy meal and their bodies adapt to digesting the corn. Season ends, or for some reason the hunter stops feeding, those deer run a real risk of starving to death because their bodies cannot quickly adapt back to their natural browse.

A food plot provides an opportunity for almost year long browsing if done right. Plants offer different types of browse depending on their maturity. For example, soybeans will provide green leafy browse for several months, then once the beans dry down they will have the high protein they need for the fall and into the winter months.

In my opinion, a food plot is a way to provide to the deer we harvest, more than just a place to kill deer. I typically kill one, maybe two deer a year. That's my preference as that's really all the meat we need. My plots provide nutrients to dozens if not hundreds of deer.

My argument is not for or against baiting, but more that you must recognize there really is a difference.

 

Do you who don’t bait out a worm on your hook? Decoys for ducks?......... just sayin. To each there own. As long as no ones poaching who cares.


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AARONB has everyone checked in? Are we good to go?

When does everyone’s season start?


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No Mike it is very bad not everybody has checked in, I fear we lost a few today, not good to go.

 

I consider it to be one final gesture of goodwill to the deer. A last meal of sorts, kinda like letting a prisoner smoke a cigarette before an execution

 

Ok ,I'll cave. Food plots are baiting, I know for a fact. Today my peach trees in my tree plot baited me right in. Fresh juice peach right from the tree, OH MAN. I stood there grabbing as many in reach as I could ,only dropping a few bad ones for the deer. Leaving when my rolled up shirt couldn't fit any more. I know those tree will draw me in at least one more time....

 

LOL

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The 3rd paragraph was right when stating about the management of OTHER species. The Black Bear numbers in Ontario are high and would rise dramatically if not for baiting. Spotting or stalking in that region as a method of hunting would result in a very low harvest.....not that it can't be done though.

 

Yes, I think it is. With hundreds of acres of food plots, the deer can be anywhere within that large area. When baiting with feeders/piles of corn, you are drawing them to a SPECIFIC spot, which makes them much easier to target. Big difference in my eyes.

I have to say though, since I tried hunting baited deer in Ohio, they do come in on edge, and are much more wary than I thought they would be.